This is, yes, the very last chapter. If you're not satisfied with the ending... I don't know. You should be. Hopefully. But obviously let me know how you feel in your reviews; your final reviews for this story.
Marth's cry mixed with her horror filled shriek. She didn't look at him. She didn't look at Ike, dead on the ground. She only looked at the colorful ball, rimmed with black, that floated up from the dissolved particles. And she grabbed Ike's sword from the ground, hefted up in her hands, gritted her teeth agains the pain in her chest, and bent her legs slightly, bringing the sword down on the sphere with all her strength.
The ball shot away and Sheik's red eyes, bright with the thousands of emotions inside, watched it hurl towards Marth. The Emblem swordsman pierced it with his gleaming blade, a roar of anger escaping his lips. Again the ball shot away from the force of the blow and flew towards Pit.
The winged boy was curled up on the ground, but through his tear filled eyes he seemed to be able to see the orb and with a weak thrust of his sword he knocked it away from him. Samus curled into a ball as it approached her and her sister and Core bounced off her orange armor, heading for Sheik again.
She readied Ike's sword. "For all who died," she whispered. Tears spilled from her eyes and her vision blurred as she brought the golden blade down with all her might.
The cracking sound was loud and sharp and the ball broke in half. The blue sky darkened as it filled with black streaks of electric lightening and clouds of black particles. A high pitched scream pierced through everything and the blackness dissolved.
There was the blue sky with the sparse white clouds like cotton candy that floated through it. There was the clear outline of the beautiful mansion against the backdrop of a huge expanse of grass and occasional trees. And there was the bloody grass all around, the groans of the wounded, and the limp bodies of the unconscious and dead. And Sheik crashed to her knees, the sword dropping from her hands onto the ground beside its dead owner.
No one said anything for a long time. No one moved. Sheik knew exactly how they felt. No one wanted to. They were numb. The reality had sunk in, and yet it hadn't. Roy and Robin F were quietly sobbing by Lucina. Marth was standing very still and very stiff, a frown on his stone-like face. His cape billowed briefly in a sudden breeze.
Slowly some began to rise. Samus' mask was cracked and broken, exposing her face. It was bleeding slightly, but the blood didn't hide the scars and white splotches that ran over her cheeks, forehead, and chin, even down her neck. But that didn't matter. Sheik didn't even remember why she wore a mask. Because people were dead.
"Is Cloud alive?" asked Zero Suit, weakly trying to stand. "Who all died?"
Zelda whimpered by Link and Marth moved, walking stiffly over to her. He bent and picked her up, holding her in the position he had when he'd caught her. Robin M was beside them both and bending over Link, feeling his pulse.
"He's still alive. Breathing strong I think."
"She's dead!" Roy was crying. "She's dead over here! Lucina's dead, guys!"
"She's not sleeping," whimpered Robin F. She and Roy grabbed each other, crying on one another's shoulders.
Sheik couldn't bear to look at Ike's violently pierced body and turned to gaze at Ganondorf. He was lying in the same position. Even if she hadn't been sure before, which she had been, she could see from the short distance that his chest was not rising and falling. He wasn't breathing. He was dead.
"Dark Pit," moaned Pit. "My back."
"Where's Doctor Mario?" asked Rosalina. "Ness is hurt badly." She sniffed. "Luma. Poor baby."
"I need a heart," said Zelda.
"What?" asked Marth.
"I need a heart. Like from the portals. It gives… life."
"Would that work?" asked Robin M, looking up at Marth, an eyebrow raised in earnest questioning.
"I don't know."
"Guys." Cloud's voice was weak, but recognizable. "The portal food. The hearts. The mushrooms. Maybe we could take them out…" He trailed off. "It wouldn't work."
"Let's go into the portals," said Samus.
"You can't die in the portals," added Zero Suit, standing straighter now, her eyes flashing brightly. "Our portal bodies can be brought back to life with the hearts. We can make the dead come back."
"You don't know that," contradicted Sheik, speaking for the first time, clutching her chest as blood ran through her fingers. "That may not be true."
"We have to try," said Marth.
And Sheik knew they did have to try. Because her heart was pounding again with hope. And if they didn't try, she couldn't live it down. And if they failed… she couldn't live that down either. But a try was better than nothing. A hope was better than no hope. And right now, there wasn't much of it.
"Yes," she said. "We have to."
"Ganondorf?" She tried to keep her voice from breaking with joy as his eyes opened, closed, and opened again.
"What?" He tried to raise his head and she grabbed him around the neck in a tight embrace.
"Ganon," she whispered.
"Ganon!" Zelda hugged them both, her face glowing with joy.
"Ganon!" Link was embracing them all, squeezing. And Sheik wanted it to go on forever.
"It's just a little hard to breath," Ganondorf grunted.
Shaky laughs all around and they released him.
"I can't believe you're alive! I can't believe it!" Sheik was clearly at a loss for words. "I…" Tears sparkled in her eyes. "I… How can I be this happy?"
She turned and hugged Zelda and she hugged her back, squeezing tightly. "We came through it," she whispered.
"Yeah," Sheik responded. "We did."
"Ike!" Robin F's scream caused them all to turn around and see the white haired girl grab Ike in a bear hug and knock him back over from where he had just sat up. She released him and grabbed Robin M in a hug as well. "He's back! Lucina!" She was hugging her blue haired friend now, giggling with glee. "I can't be any happier! My face is going to split!"
"I can't really figure out how I can be going from devastated to happy." Marth was standing there with a confused expression on his face. Then he flashed a white smile and tackled Ike back on to the ground where he had again tried to sit up.
Roy was busy hugging both Robins and Lucina and Ike leaned over and grabbed them all, pulling them down on top of himself and Marth. "Tackle pile," he chuckled.
Sheik felt tears streaming down her cheeks and she beamed as Pit and Dark Pit grabbed each other in a hug. Pit's wings lifted him into the air and Dark Pit followed, the two winged teens laughing. Rosalina was hugging her Luma. Cloud was standing just behind the two Samuses. Zero Suit was holding her sister's hand and Samus was wearing a suit similar to Zero's, her orange robotic armor gone. Her face was still covered in scars, but she was radiant and smiling, something Sheik had certainly never seen.
Everyone was smiling.
"But what happened?" asked Lucina.
Sheik stood and embraced her. "You died and you're alive again."
"I got crushed, didn't I," said the bluenette, her eyes clouding briefly.
"I got killed by Cloud's sword," said Ike, frowning. "Dude, what in the world?"
"That was not me!" Cloud exclaimed, his blue eyes sparking.
Ike grinned. "I know. Just fooling." He pursed his lips. "Probably a bad idea. Emotional roller coaster for… come 'ere Lucina. I gotta give you another hug." He did so. "Ganon! You're alive! Well, Sheik, what do you know, I did end up saving you."
"You shouldn't have, Stupid," she answered, and grabbed him around the neck.
His arms encircled her and he squeezed briefly. "Yeah, I should have and I'm glad I did," he murmured in her ear. Then he had released her. "I'm starved."
"You can't make me laugh," said Marth.
Ike grinned at him. "Can't I? What if I tickled you?"
Marth glared at him and Ike chuckled. "I'm kidding. I'd die again if I tried. It'd be worse than the shadow Core thingy."
And Marth laughed hesitantly. "Well, let's go. We have to contact people, but right now we're out of danger and we can just… sleep for a thousand years, rest a hundred days, and eat a million meals."
"That is the best idea you have ever had!" exclaimed Link.
"I'm totally baking!" beamed Peach, standing by Mario and Luigi. "Come on, Zelda!"
Sheik stared at herself in the mirror. So much had happened. Why didn't she look more different? Wii Fit Trainer was alive again, but in jail somewhere. And Sheik still had blonde hair, except now it was in two braids and her bangs were fastened with bobby pins out of her face.
There were new authorities in charge from a city where everyone looked like the two young children called 'Villagers'. And she was still thin and didn't wear a dress, except now she had two earrings in her ears and a pink shirt over black leggings and combat boots with green shoelaces.
Brawls would start again in a month, the meals were being prepared regularly, every room was open, the bugs that were proved to have been in the rooms were taken out. And Sheik still had red eyes and a stiff disposition. Except her stiff disposition was thousands of times less stiff.
Her parents were coming to visit in a few days to make sure she couldn't even experience anything as terrible as she had again. So were many other parents and spouses and families. And she still had a mask and a red burn mark on her chin. Except she didn't have to wear the mask.
With a flick of her wrist she tossed it onto her bed, flashed the mirror smile, and did a back handspring to stand in front of the door. She opened it and strode out down the hall, her back straight.
Peach had organized a party with food and games in the lounge. It was a time to relax as they had been doing and rewind all together. Sheik's Smash Social app had been lighting up with notifications about how 'totally pumped' everyone was and how 'excited' Ness was and how 'fun it would be to be together and not have to fight any freaky hands or "cores"'. And it would. The smashers, mostly those she had fought with side by side on the battle field against a practically insurmountable threat, were friends and more. Family even. Closer to her than anyone had ever been in her life.
"Hey, Sheik." The raspy voice filled her with disgust as she turned to face Wario.
The short pudgy man stood by the elevator, his eyes glinting. "Not wearing a mask anymore, huh? You still look like a boy. You even have a beard on your chin."
Sheik had never felt more hurt in her life. Sadness because of a friends death? She had experienced that. Fear because of near death experiences? Multiple times. This… meanness from such a coward? Never before. He had voiced her greatest fear. She was ugly, looked like a boy, and her marking looked like a beard.
There were heavy footsteps behind her and she turned slightly, tears stinging her eyes, to see Ike stride right past her. He picked Wario up by the collar, and with his muscles bulging, hurled the motorcyclist into the wall.
Wario gave a groan and lay still on the floor. "Ugh," he moaned.
Ike turned to look at Sheik.
She didn't know what to say.
He grinned. "Sheik, may I say you look absolutely beautiful." His eyes sparkled with genuine friendliness and held out his hand. "Will you join me?"
"Where are you going?" she asked, trying to keep a smile off her face. Her lips trembled.
"The party," he said cheerfully.
She gave a little skip over to him and put her hand in his. "Yes, let's."
The two smiled at each other.
Oh, everyone's alive. Everything's happy. I gave hints of pairs throughout the story. Cloud x Zero Suit. Marth x Zelda. Link x Lucina. But maybe it should be Roy x Lucina. Or... who knows. Maybe it should be Link x Zelda. It doesn't matter. I'm not clarifying. Whatever floats your boat. But, hey, it's definitely and Ike x Sheik, yes? You're welcome, Greenoak. ;-D
Thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Yes, there were problems with this story. Grammatical errors, non sequiturs, and randomness that didn't add to the story, but... I'm glad I was able to write this. Look for more stories coming soon. Or at least another one. I've got ideas lined up for multi-chapter fics and one shots that will be posted on "Lovely Littles". Check 'em out when I publish them! Happy reading! :-D
Ike4ever